One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the Spring come in.  The ice in the pond at length begins to be honeycombed， and I can set my heel in it as I walk.  Fogs and rains and warmer suns are gradually melting the snow； the days have grown sensibly longer； and I see how I shall get through the winter without adding to my wood-pile， for large fires are no longer necessary.  I am on the alert for the first signs of spring， to hear the chance note of some arriving bird， or the striped squirrel's chirp， for his stores must be now nearly exhausted， or see the woodchuck venture out of his winter quarters.  On the 13th of March， after I had heard the bluebird，song sparrow， and red-wing， the ice was still nearly a foot thick. As the weather grew warmer it was not sensibly worn away by the water， nor broken up and floated off as in rivers， but， though it was completely melted for half a rod in width about the shore， the middle was merely honeycombed and saturated with water， so that you could put your foot through it when six inches thick； but by the next day evening， perhaps， after a warm rain followed by fog， it would have wholly disappeared， all gone off with the fog， spirited away.  One year I went across the middle only five days before it disappeared entirely.  In 1845 Walden was first completely open on the 1st of April； in '46， the 25th of March； in '47， the 8th of April； in '51， the 28th of March； in '52， the 18th of April； in '53，the 23d of March； in '54， about the 7th of April.

　　Every incident connected with the breaking up of the rivers and ponds and the settling of the weather is particularly interesting to us who live in a climate of so great extremes.  When the warmer days come， they who dwell near the river hear the ice crack at night with a startling whoop as loud as artillery， as if its icy fetters were rent from end to end， and within a few days see it rapidly going out.  So the alligator comes out of the mud with quakings of the earth.  One old man， who has been a close observer of Nature， and seems as thoroughly wise in regard to all her operations as if she had been put upon the stocks when he was a boy， and he had helped to lay her keel ―― who has come to his growth， and can hardly acquire more of natural lore if he should live to the age of Methuselah ――told me ―― and I was surprised to hear him express wonder at any of Nature's operations， for I thought that there were no secrets between them ―― that one spring day he took his gun and boat， and thought that he would have a little sport with the ducks.  There was ice still on the meadows， but it was all gone out of the river， and he dropped down without obstruction from Sudbury， where he lived， to Fair Haven Pond， which he found， unexpectedly， covered for the most part with a firm field of ice.  It was a warm day， and he was surprised to see so great a body of ice remaining.  Not seeing any ducks， he hid his boat on the north or back side of an island in the pond， and then concealed himself in the bushes on the south side， to await them.  The ice was melted for three or four rods from the shore， and there was a smooth and warm sheet of water， with a muddy bottom， such as the ducks love， within， and he thought it likely that some would be along pretty soon.  After he had lain still there about an hour he heard a low and seemingly very distant sound， but singularly grand and impressive， unlike anything he had ever heard，gradually swelling and increasing as if it would have a universal and memorable ending， a sullen rush and roar， which seemed to him all at once like the sound of a vast body of fowl coming in to settle there， and， seizing his gun， he started up in haste and excited； but he found， to his surprise， that the whole body of the ice had started while he lay there， and drifted in to the shore， and the sound he had heard was made by its edge grating on the shore ――at first gently nibbled and crumbled off， but at length heaving up and scattering its wrecks along the island to a considerable height before it came to a standstill.

　　At length the sun's rays have attained the right angle， and warm winds blow up mist and rain and melt the snowbanks， and the sun，dispersing the mist， smiles on a checkered landscape of russet and white smoking with incense， through which the traveller picks his way from islet to islet， cheered by the music of a thousand tinkling rills and rivulets whose veins are filled with the blood of winter which they are bearing off.

　　吸引我住到森林中來(lái)的是我要生活得有閑暇，并有機(jī)會(huì)看到春天的來(lái)臨。最后，湖中的冰開(kāi)始像蜂房那樣了，我一走上去，后跟都陷進(jìn)去了。霧，雨，溫暖的太陽(yáng)慢慢地把雪溶化了；你感覺(jué)到白晝已延長(zhǎng)得多，我看到我的燃料已不必增添，盡夠過(guò)冬，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)根本不需要生個(gè)旺火了。我注意地等待著春天的第一個(gè)信號(hào)，傾聽(tīng)著一些飛來(lái)鳥(niǎo)雀的偶然的樂(lè)音，或有條紋的松鼠的啁啾，因?yàn)樗膬?chǔ)藏大約也告罄了吧，我也想看――看土撥鼠如何從它們冬蟄的地方出現(xiàn)。三月十三日，我已經(jīng)聽(tīng)到青鳥(niǎo)、籬雀和紅翼鶇，冰那時(shí)卻還有一英尺厚。因?yàn)樘鞖飧鼫嘏耍辉俳o水沖掉，也不像河里的冰那樣地浮動(dòng)，雖然沿岸半桿闊的地方都已經(jīng)溶化，可是湖心的依然像蜂房一樣，飽和著水，六英寸深的時(shí)候，還可以用你的腳穿過(guò)去；可是第二天晚上，也許在一陣溫暖的雨和緊跟著的大霧之后，它就全部消失，跟著霧一起走掉，迅速而神秘地給帶走了。有一年，我在湖心散步之后的第五天，它全部消隱了。一八四五年，瓦爾登在四月一日全部開(kāi)凍；四六年，三月二十五日；四七年，四月八日；五一年，三月二十八日；五二年，四月十八日；五三年，三月二十三日；五四年，大約在四月七日。

　　凡有關(guān)于河和湖的開(kāi)凍，春光之來(lái)臨的一切瑣碎事，對(duì)我們生活在這樣極端的氣候中的人，都是特別地有趣的。當(dāng)比較溫和的日子來(lái)到的時(shí)候，住在河流附近的人，晚間能聽(tīng)到冰裂開(kāi)的聲響，驚人的吼聲，像一聲大炮，好像那冰的鎖鏈就此全都斷了，幾天之內(nèi)，只見(jiàn)它迅速地消溶。正像鱷魚(yú)從泥土中鉆了出來(lái)，大地為之震動(dòng)。有一位老年人，是大自然的精密的觀察家，關(guān)于大自然的一切變幻，似乎他有充分的智慧，好像他還只是一個(gè)孩子的時(shí)候，大自然給放在造船臺(tái)上，而他也幫助過(guò)安置她的龍骨似的，――他現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)成長(zhǎng)了，即使他再活下去，活到瑪土撒拉那樣的年紀(jì)，也不會(huì)增加多少大自然的知識(shí)了。他告訴我，有一個(gè)春季的日子里，他持槍坐上了船，想跟那些野鴨進(jìn)行競(jìng)技，――聽(tīng)到他居然也對(duì)大自然的任何變幻表示驚奇，我感到詫異，因?yàn)槲蚁胨笞匀恢g一定不會(huì)有任何秘密了。那時(shí)草原上還有冰，可是河里完全沒(méi)有了，他毫無(wú)阻礙地從他住的薩德伯里地方順流而下，到了美港湖，在那里，他突然發(fā)現(xiàn)大部分還是堅(jiān)實(shí)的冰。這是一個(gè)溫和的日子，而還有這樣大體積的冰殘留著，使他非常驚異。因?yàn)榭床坏揭傍啠汛卦诒辈浚蛘哒f(shuō)，湖中一個(gè)小島的背后，而他自己則躲在南岸的灌木叢中，等待它們。離岸三四桿的地方，冰已經(jīng)都溶化掉了，有著平滑而溫暖的水，水底卻很泥濘，這正是鴨子所喜愛(ài)的，所以他想，不久一定會(huì)有野鴨飛來(lái)。他一動(dòng)不動(dòng)地躺臥在那里，大約已有一個(gè)小時(shí)了，他聽(tīng)到了一種低沉，似乎很遠(yuǎn)的聲音，出奇地偉大而給人留下深刻的印象，那是從來(lái)沒(méi)有聽(tīng)到過(guò)的，慢慢地上漲而加強(qiáng)，仿佛它會(huì)有一個(gè)全宇宙的，令人難忘的音樂(lè)尾聲一樣，一種溫郁的激撞聲和吼聲，由他聽(tīng)來(lái)，仿佛一下子大群的飛禽要降落到這里來(lái)了，于是他抓住了槍，急忙跳了起來(lái)，很是興奮；可是他發(fā)現(xiàn)，真是驚奇的事，整整一大塊冰，就在躺臥的時(shí)候卻行動(dòng)起來(lái)了，向岸邊流動(dòng)，而他所聽(tīng)到的正是它的邊沿摩擦湖岸的粗厲之聲，――起先還比較的溫和，一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)地咬著，碎落著，可是到后來(lái)卻沸騰了，把它自己撞到湖岸上，冰花飛濺到相當(dāng)?shù)母叨龋庞致湎露鴱?fù)歸于平靜。

　　終于，太陽(yáng)的光線形成了直角，溫暖的風(fēng)吹散了霧和雨，更溶化了湖岸上的積雪，霧散后的太陽(yáng)，向著一個(gè)褐色和白色相間隔的格子形的風(fēng)景微笑，而且熏香似的微霧還在繚繞呢。旅行家從一個(gè)小島嶼尋路到另一個(gè)小島嶼，給一千道淙淙的小溪和小澗的音樂(lè)迷住了，在它們的脈管中，冬天的血液暢流，從中逝去。

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